To find the surface area of a cube, you use the formula for surface area which is:
Surface Area of a cube = 6 (side length)^2
This is because a cube has six identical square faces, and the area of each square face is the square of the side length.
Given the side length of the cube is 7 inches, you can substitute this value into the formula:
Surface Area = 6 (7 inches)^2
First, calculate the area of one face of the cube by squaring the side length:
Area of one face = (7 inches) (7 inches) = 49 square inches
Then, multiply this area by 6 to obtain the total surface area of the cube:
Surface Area = 6 49 square inches = 294 square inches
Therefore, the surface area of the cube is 294 square inches.
